Method of decorating pieces of soap

ABSTRACT

A PIECE OF SOAP IS DECORATED BY SMOOTHING A PIECE OF IMAGE CARRYING SHEET MATERIAL TO A FACE OF THE SOAP PIECE IN SUCH A MANNER AS TO LEAVE AN ANNULAR FACE PORTION OF THE SOAP EXPOSED AROUND THE ENTIRE EDGE OF THE SHEET MATERIAL, AND COMPLETELY COVERING THE ANNULAR SOAP SURFACE PORTION AND THE SHEET MATERIAL WITH A TRANSPARENT, CONTINUOUS, WATERPROOF, AND PLIABLE LAYER OF AN ORGANIC COATING MATERIAL. PARAFFIN, WHEN USED FOR COATING REQUIRES, PREDRYING OF THE SOAP SURFACE.

United States Patent 3,565,709 METHOD OF DECORATING PIECES OF SOAP Elwood C. Grebe, 29-24 210th Place, Bayside, N.Y. 11360 No Drawing. Filed Oct. 2, 1967, Ser. No. 672,016 Int. Cl. B44d 1/20 US. Cl. 15662.2 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A piece of soap is decorated by smoothing a piece of image carrying sheet material to a face of the soap piece in such a manner as to leave an annular face portion of the soap exposed around the entire edge of the sheet material, and completely covering the annular soap surface portion and the sheet material with a transparent, continuous, waterproof, and pliable layer of an organic coating material. Paraffin, when used for coating requires, predrying of the soap surface.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to decorated pieces of soap, and particularly to a method of decorating pieces of soap.

The appearance of a toilet article, such as toilet soap, is important in promoting the sale of the article, and in enhancing its enjoyment during use. It is customary to decorate pieces of soap by embossed lettering and somewhat primitive embossed images, but the decorative value of embossed indicia and images is small and their durability is limited under the conditions normally prevailing during use of the soap. Patterns produced by inserts made from soap of a contrasting color are limited to rather simple and indistinct shapes under practical conditions of soap manufacture.

The object of the invention is the provision of pieces of soap decorated with an unlimited range of colors and two-dimensional shapes, and capable of retaining their pleasing appearance in normal use until the piece of soap is substantially completely consumed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION I have found that a continuous layer of a water insoluble material thin enough to be transparent and pliable can be applied to a piece of ordinary soap to protect the same against dissolution by water, and that the coating may simultaneously protect an image carrying piece of sheet material interposed between the soap surface and the coating in such a manner that the coating projects beyond all edges of the sheet material into direct sealing engagement with the soap surface.

An inorganic material which would adequately meet all the requirements for a protective coating for soap is not available at this time at a cost which would make its use economically practical, but many organic materials produce coatings which are more or less satisfactory, if they resist moisture at temperatures up to at least 150 F., the highest water temperature encountered in the normal use of hand-held pieces of soap. The coating also must resist the attack of fairly concentrated soap solution up to the desired maximum temperature.

Clear lacquers and varnishes differ for the purposes of my invention from the mediocre performance of varnishes based on linseed or tung oil to the excellent service provided by all commercial air-drying acrylic lacquers. The acrylic lacquers are therefore preferred. They have the added advantage of adhering well to soap which is in moisture equilibrium under normal atmospheric conditions when applied from their solutions in volatile solvents.

Patented Feb. 23, 1971 ice Wax coatings when applied in thin layers and fused to make them continuous are also effective in protecting the covered soap surface and an image carrying sheet material on the same. Waxes as a class, however, do not adhere adequately to soap unless the latter is dried to a moisture content lower than the equilibrium content.

The nature of the image carrying sheet material is much less critical than that of the protecting coating. Commercially available decalcomanias readily adhere to soap when applied in the usual manner, but printed paper, thin fabric, and even gold leaf and aluminum or plastic foils may be employed. If the sheet material is not very pliable and not somewhat resilient, it cannot provide a durable decoration for a soap cake unless it covers only narrow areas of the soap surface and is locked to the soap by the protective coating along an edge which is long relative to the area of the sheet material. Soap has been found to expand, to contract, and to bend during use, and it is necessary that at least the protective coating be capable of participating in the resulting movements of the soap surface without rupture, and without loss of sealing bond to the soap surface.

The following examples further illustrate the invention,

but it should be understood that the invention is not limited thereto.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS Example 1 A piece of toilet soap having two opposite convex faces and a ribbon-shaped side face connecting the convex face was exposed to a 300 watt infrared lamp at a distance of about 10 inches for five minutes in such a manner that the radiant heat of the lamp reached only one of the convex faces and the portion of the soap contiguously ad acent to the face. The original greenish color of the soap changed in the exposed area toward a more greyish tinge, indicating a loss of moisture.

A commercial decal was soaked in water in the usual manner, slipped from its supporting paper sheet to the predried soap surface, and smoothed over the same. The soap cake carrying the decal was again exposed to the radiant heat of the infrared lamp until the moisture carried by the decal was evaporated. This took a little over one minute. The decal represented a rose. It covered only a portion of the dried soap surface and was not continuous so that portions of the soap surface were visible through openings in the aifixed decal, and an annular portion of the soap surface remained exposed about the outer edges of the decal.

A coating of high-melting paraffin (M.P. above F.) was applied to the decal and to the residual dried soap surface about the edges of the decal and in the openings of the same from an air-operated spray gun equipped with an electrically heated tank in which the parafiin was molten. A whitish paraflin layer of uniform opacity was deposited on the exposed soap and decal surfaces. The coated face of the soap cake was again exposed to infrared radiation until the paraffin layer was fused. The opacity disappeared when the discreet solid paraffin particles coalesced upon melting, and the continuous parafifin film so produced remained transparent upon cooling to ambient temperature which was hastened by a blast of cold compressed air. The dried soap surface returned to its original color within 24 hours.

The decorated soap was used for washing and bathing. The decal firmly adhered to the soap, and the latter was consumed only from its unprotected convex face and the ribbon-shaped side face until the latter ultimately disappeared and the two curved surfaces of the cake met at a small acute angle. Ultimately, the erosion of the soap from the uncoated curved face proceeded to remove the soap from the portion of the parafiin layer extending beyond the outer edge of the decal, and the soap cake then disintegrated quite rapidly. The decorative effect was fully maintained until the soap had lost well over 90% of its original weight.

If care is taken to transmit only a minimum of water to the soap surface together with the prepared decal, the second drying operation can be omitted. The adhesion of the molten parafiin film to a soap surface not prepared by drying is poor, and water seeps under the film from the edges, thereby shortening the useful life of the decorative layer. The opaque paratfin layer obscures the image on the soap surface, and thus is not useful for this invention. It also is not waterproof, and can retard the dissolution of the covered soap surface only for an insignificant period.

Polyethylene, when mixed with the molten paraffin as a minor constituent, improves the mechanical strength of the coating, and thereby prevents damage to the same by careless handling or by more than usual abrasive wear. No significant advantages were achieved by replacing the parafiin partly or in its entirety by other waxes, such as bees wax or carnauba wax, and these waxes, while operative below their solidification temperature, do not offer advantages over paraflin which would offset their higher cost.

Example 2 A rectangular piece of laundry soap was placed in a container which left only the horizontal top face of the soap exposed. A group of letters was cut from a piece of onion skin paper and smoothed over the exposed surface, leaving the four edges and adjacent portions of the top face free. Additional parts of the surface remained ex posed between the letters and between portions of the same letter.

The soap and cake were then sprayed with a commercial clear acrylic lacquer from an air-operated spray gun until a somewhat glossy, transparent lacquer film uniformly and continuously covered the lettering and the residual soap surface. The volatile solvent of the lacquer evaporated almost completely during spraying, and the film was dry to the touch almost immediately after it was deposited. The decorated soap could be removed from the container and wrapped in paper without sticking to the same.

The letters were protected by the lacquer film in the subsequent use of the soap against the effect of hot water containing soap and conventional laundry bleaches. No damage to the lacquer film by abrasion was observed. The film failed ultimately when the piece of soap, reduced to about 10% of its original weight, broke into several pieces.

It is not necessary to affix the image carrying sheet material to the soap surface prior to spraying with a lacquer of high tensile strength and good adhesion to the soap such as an acrylic lacquer which itself holds the sheet material to the soap surface, particularly when the paper surface is narrow as in lettering. Adhesives, however, may be used if so desired.

Lacquers based on nitrocellulose are distinctly less resistant to moisture at elevated temperature than acrylic lacquers, and loss of transparency by blushing can be avoided only by predrying the soap or by very carefully controlling the conditions during the spraying operation.

Obviously, lacquers may be applied to a soap surface and to image carrying sheet material partly covering the soap surface by means of a brush or by roller coating if the contour of the piece permits.

Varnishes based on linseed oil or tung oil produce coatings even less resistant to hot water and soap than those of nitrocellulose lacquers. Moreover, they dry too slowly to make their use practical in the method of this invention.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing disclosure relates only to a preferred embodiment of the invention, and that it is intended to cover all changes and modifications of the examples of the invention herein chosen for the purpose of the disclosure which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A method of decorating a piece of soap having an outer face portion normally in moisture equilibrium with the surrounding atmosphere which comprises:

(a) removing a part of the equilibrium moisture from said outer face portion;

(b) depositing a piece of image carrying sheet material on said face portion, said piece of sheet material being smaller than said face portion, and an annular part of said face portion being exposed about the entire outer edge of the deposited piece;

(0) smoothing said piece of sheet material to said face portion; and

(d) completely covering said exposed part and the face of said piece of sheet material directed away from said piece of soap with a transparent, continuous, waterproof, and pliable layer of an organic coating material,

( 1) said coating material being a stable solid in the presence of an aqueous soap solution to a temperature of at least 150 F.

2. A method as set forth in claim 1, wherein said coating material is an acrylic lacquer.

3. A method as set forth in claim 1, wherein said layer essentially consists of paraffin.

4. A method as set forth in claim 3, wherein said paraffin is deposited on said annular part and on said face of the piece of sheet material in the form of discreet solid particles, and said particles are heated after deposition until they fuse and coalesce to form said layer.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,101,029 6/1914 Magnasco 156-280 1,609,500 12/1926 Terlinden 156-237 1,651,136 11/1927 Lang 156-237 2,220,549 11/ 1940 Schur et al. 156-230 2,572,967 10/ 1951 Axelrod 15 6-240 2,991,211 7/1961 Bower 156-237 3,340,091 9/1967 Zweig 156-230 3,359,352 12/1967 Powell et al 156-155 FOREIGN PATENTS 159,098 3/1905 Germany 73-1.1

LELAND A. SEBASTIAN, Primary Examiner F. M. GITTES, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

